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Lamprey use their teeth-covered mouth and tongue to attach to trout and salmon and feed off their flesh and bodily fluids. A view of inside the mouth of a lamprey. The circle of points act like suction cups attatching to the fish, the center teeth are the tongue that bors through the skin of the fish.
(Mike Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)

Ithaca -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation's application of lampricide to kill sea lamprey in the Cayuga Lake Inlet was delayed about a week this month due to excessive rain.

The process is now complete and has been deemed a success. Water- use restrictions in the Inlet and southern end of the lake have been lifted, DEC said.

Lampreys are a parasitic, sucking fish that have been hurting the fishery in the lake. DEC officials say the lamprey situation in Cayuga Lake is currently the worst it's been in decades.

Emily Zollew-Horan, a DEC fisheries biologist, said last year that as many as 80 percent of the Cayuga's lake trout landed by anglers during the summer of 2012 had lamprey attached or showed lamprey scars.

The reason the Inlet was targeted for the lampricide treatment is because it's been determined that's where the majority of the lake's lampreys spawn each year.

The lampricide was scheduled to be released into the Inlet Aug. 12-14. However, excessive amounts of rain caused DEC staff to delay the process, which was completed Aug. 20. This picture shows lampricide being applied in Catharine Creek (the Seneca Lake Inlet) in 2008.
John Berry | jberry@syracuse.com

The lampricide was scheduled to be released into the Inlet Aug. 12-14. However, excessive amounts of rain caused DEC staff to delay the process, which was completed Aug. 20.

In a fact sheet released prior to the lampricide treatment the DEC stressed that studies have shown that the lampricide that was used was "non-toxic or has minimal effects on aquatic plants, other fish and wildlife. The DEC also stressed it was "non-toxic to humans and other mammals."

As a safety precaution, though, the DEC announced restrictions on using treated water in the Inlet below the treatment areas for drinking, cooking and other household purposes, such as bathing, showering and clothes or dish washing. In addition, DEC said treated water should not be used for livestock watering, irrigation, swimming or fishing.

Additional restrictions were announced for the water in the southern end of the lake. The DEC's announcement cautioned against using that water for drinking or cooking, or for watering livestock, but said it could be safely used for household purposes.

"Temporary water-use restrictions for the sea lamprey treatment were lifted for the Cayuga Inlet and Cayuga Lake between Newfield Depot Road and southern Cayuga Lake on Tuesday," the DEC said.